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Tuesday, 30 September 2014

'Dark Witch' by Nora Roberts

A few years back, I read 'The Circle Trilogy' by Nora Roberts, mainly because the Celtic Goddess Morrigan was one of the characters. I read all three books in little over a week, desperately awaiting a huge battle that had been promised from the outset. I was disappointed when I got to the battle and discovered that this huge showdown I'd been waiting for lasted only fifteen pages. But I can't deny that otherwise, the trilogy did grip me.And so, when I read the description of Nora Robert's newest offering, 'The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy', I was intrigued. Set in Ireland, and following Iona Sheehan, an all American gal who's moved to the old country to reconnect with her cousins Brenna and Connor O'Dwyer, this first instalment promised a lot. Magic, romance, and the age old battle of good versus evil. I had to give it a go.I'm glad I did. 'Dark Witch' is an interesting take on witchcraft with very few of the clichés usually found in books of its ilk. The characters were realistic and likeable although I did find some of the dialogue between them a bit clunky and slightly un-readable. It felt as though it had been written by someone who had never met an Irish person but had only heard the accent and dialect on an American TV show. I'm not implying here that that's the case, only that that's how it came across to me. Otherwise the writing was pretty flawless with description that helped me to see clearly the beautiful setting of the novel.As you would imagine, with the novel being the first part of a trilogy, the final chapter ended with a bit of a cliffhanger, something to keep us waiting eagerly for the next instalment. And it works because I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open for the next volume. I need to know how things will pan out for Iona and her new found family.It's a great book to curl up with in front of the fire as Autumn draws closer and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys a cosy paranormal romance. I give it a 3/5. I think if it weren't for the issue I had with the dialogue, I would have rated it more highly. But even still, it's definitely worth a read.

'Dark Witch' is released by Piatkus on the 2nd October and is available in both paperback and ebook.*I was kindly provided with an advance review copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.